The cover of the book is a mosaic of the first figure of Chapter 1, Pinel in Bicêtre freeing the mentally ill from the Bicêtre Asylum in Paris. Each mosaic element is a figure from the text.

Introduction

First published in 2006 in Spanish, NPP Books is proud to publish the revised and updated English edition of the History of Psychopharmacology. Leading international authors from multiple disciplines have contributed to this book, which describes the historical development of the use of pharmaceuticals in psychiatry. This book gives a historical perspective of the many treatises and compendia of psychopharmacology.

The work is divided into four volumes and 15 sections:

Volume 1: The Origins of Scientific Medicine: Biological Pillars on the Birth of Psychopharmacology

Section 1: History of Psychiatry

A brief history of clinical psychiatry is described, with the sentinel works of Pinel, Esquirol, Freud, Delay, Deniker, and others.

Section 2: “Psychoactive” Substances before the Development of Psychotropic Drugs: The Origins of Scientific Medicine

This section explores the historical evolution of the use of psychotropic substances, and how the concept of the pathological state of mind has changed since Classic Antiquity, from the approach of Hippocratism and Galenism, to physicalization of mental illness up to the mid-20th century.

Section 3: Basic Research and its Contribution to the Advance of Psychopharmacology

In this section, the breakthroughs of modern psychiatric drugs are presented. During the first half of the 20th century, the basic and experimental disciplines of therapeutic psychiatry and pharmacology were achieved. Introduced in these chapters are the concepts of neuronal theory, the discovery of the processes of neurotransmission, the advancements in electronic microscopy, the great advances in pharmaceutical chemistry, the introduction of animal models of mental illness, the introduction of techniques in radioligands and autoradiography, the development of molecular biology, and the genomic and proteomic techniques.

Section 5: History of Biological Theories of Mental Disorders

This section discusses the history of biological theories of the principal psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse disorders) and how psychopharmacology has not only been used, but also how it has contributed to their postulates and developments.

Volume 2: The Revolution of Psychopharmacology: The Discovery and Development of Psychoactive Drugs

Section 6: “The Revolution of Psychopharmacology”: History of Drug Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders

This section analyzes the development of the different families of drugs that are used for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, from antiquity through the present, starting from opium, cannabis, mandrake, henbane, and dewtry. Pharmacotherapy is then explored: bromide for anxiety and mania; morphine was isolated; choral hydrate for insomnia; barbiturate acid for schizophrenia; phenylpropanolamine, which led to amphetamines.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the use of dangerous and/or ineffective medicines exploded, including alcohol, camphor, cocaine, castor oil, manganese, and heroin, which was sold in infant teething formulas. The inappropriate uses of these ingredients led to the introduction of regulations such as the US Pure Food and Drug Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The era of modern of psychopharmacology began in the mid-20th century with the introduction of psychotropic drugs. These drugs included lithium for mania, chlorpromazine, and reserpine for psychosis, meprobamate for anxiety and iproniazid for depression. These pages tell the brief, yet important, history of antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics, as well as other pharmacological approaches used in modern psychiatry.

Section 7: Other Pharmacological Approaches in Psychiatry

This section addresses the past treatment options outside the pharmacological cache to psychiatric ailments such as the treatment of dependencies, biological therapies, psychostimulant drugs, and phytotherapeutic remedies.

The ancient Greeks used hellebore to expulse evil spirits from the body. Other therapies, such as laxatives and sedatives, hydrotherapy, trephining, bloodletting, and circular swing, were commonly used for mania, sleep, and depression.

The early 1900s saw the emergence of psychostimulants and psychotomimetics, which failed to treat psychiatry illnesses, and may even have added to the burdens of drug abuse.

Section 8: Drugs and Psychotropic Drugs: A Historical Relationship

Finally, the last section of this volume deals with the close relationship between the therapeutic and recreational aspect of certain psychoactive substances, which currently make up the social scourge of drug abuse.

Volume 3: The Consolidation of Psychopharmacology as a Scientific Discipline: Ethical-Legal Aspects and Future Prospects

Section 9: Public and Private Institutions and the Advancement of Psychopharmacology

This section discusses the role of the pharmaceutical industry on the development of psychopharmacology, its relationship to academia, the contribution of scientific and professional associations to psychopharmacology, and the role of government as regulator for safe and effective medicines.

Section 10: Ethics in Psychopharmacology

The three chapters in this section cover the history of ethics in psychopharmacology, the ethics of psychiatric research, and the ethics of the prescription of psychotropic drugs. These chapters discuss the horrendous crimes of Nazi Germany doctors, the misuse of psychiatry the post-World War II era, and the ethical problems in research. The resulting codification of medical ethics is traced, from the Hippocratic Oath, the code of ethics by Percival, the Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, Declaration of Hawaii, Declaration of Madrid, and others.

Section 11: Law and Psychopharmacology

This section covers a wide area of information related to drug abuse, institutional misuse, and drug enforcement. From the tragic abuses of World War II, the concept of informed consent was developed. The abuse of drugs and its relationship to criminality are explored here in detail. Finally, the history of the misuse of psychotropic drugs by states and institutions are touched on.

Section 12: The Contribution of Psychopharmacology to the Development of Psychiatry

These chapters describe the serendipitous start of psychopharmacology from the finding of psychostimulant properties of iproniazid in tuberculosis patients. Psychopharmacology has emerged from a desire to find a “magic bullet,” but is sometime viewed as “chemical straitjackets.” With the advancement of psychiatry, it is clear that mental illness involves more than application of drugs for the treatment of the disease. Mental disease is challenging because it is stigmatizes, as well as the use of psychotropic drugs stigmatized. Over the years, this has been qualified with the measure of “quality of life.” The development of psychiatry has involved the classification of diseases.

Section 13: Miscellaneous

As implied by the title of this section, a number of topics are covered in these chapters. (a) The history of the development of ECT is explored. (b) The term “serendipity,” often used in psychopharmacology, is examined with the examples, which include the discovery of chlorpromazine, imipramine, and iproniazid. (b) The origin of the word “placebo” and its occurrence in psychiatry. (c) The relationship of psychopharmacology and psychotherapy. (d) The origin of the concepts of evolutionary psychopharmacology. (e) The contributions of the non-Western civilizations to psychopharmacology. (f) The use of psychopharmaceuticals on non-psychiatric diseases, and the relationship of pain, depression, and anxiety. (g) The occurrence of psychotropic drugs in the literature.

Section 14: Present and Future of Psychopharmacology

Section 14 reviews the present and future perspectives of psychopharmacology. Chapter 78 covers the etiopathogenic hypothesis of mental disorders and the role of classical and new neurotransmission and neurotransduction systems. Chapter 79 analyzes the contribution of genomic and proteomic techniques to the study of the pathogenesis of mental disorders and to the development of psychopharmacology. The remainder of chapters in this section cover the novel computer-based technologies in the rational design of psychiatric drugs, pharmacology of cerebral activity, and the internet and international revolution and their prevalence to psychopharmacology.

Section 15: Psychopharmacology in Spain and Latin America

Finally, in the last section, the Spanish and Latin American contributions to the development of pharmacology are compiled, explore the historical origins of Spanish psychiatry and the complementary historical perspective of Latin American psychopharmacology, along with psychopathology and preclinical psychopharmacology in Spain.